Church holds Celtic concert

Two California musicians will make their next tour stop Feb. 9 in Martinez.

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Jamie Laval and Ashley Broder, who now live in North Carolina, will perform a variety of progressive Celtic music at Quest Church.

"We have a distinctive style that we kind of invented ourselves based on very old peasant music from the British Isles," said Laval, who has been touring for nearly six years. "We still feel we are pretty grounded in the traditional sound, but give it a new spin."

Laval plays fiddle and Broder plays mandolin with a bluegrass flair. They primarily perform Irish and Scottish tunes.

"They sort of veer from the hard-core traditional style and do some of their own very unique arrangements," said Lillie Morris, who operates Broadstrokes Gallery.

Morris' gallery is sponsoring the performance.

"The sound they produce with just those two instruments is pretty remarkable," she said.

Laval described their music as upbeat and perky. "The music we do is strictly instrumental," he said. "The material is like village dance music and doesn't have vocals."

The two musicians met in 2005 at a fiddle concert in Idaho. They released an album in 2007, Zephyr in the Confetti Factory .

"We immediately went aside and made up all kinds of new ideas, and within the next three months essentially forged a brand-new approach to the material," Laval said.

"So far, we haven't done a single show where there hasn't been a standing ovation at the end," he added.

Laval said the niche music does not offer the same profits delivered by mainstream tunes, but that doesn't bother Morris.

"They definitely wander from the pure traditional sound and put on a delightful concert," Morris said.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. and costs $15 to attend. Tickets can be purchased at Broadstrokes Gallery and at the door. Because of limited seating, Morris encourages people to purchase tickets early. For information, call (706) 860-6055.